Firewhisky Baths
by The Emmanator
Summary: Parvati Patil found an Irishman in a gutter. Parvati blamed fate. Seamus blamed firewhisky. She took him home with her and somehow, they find a way to help each other through the war. [ParvatiSeamus, AU, NO DH spoilers, COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1: Parvati and the War

Pairings: Parvati Patil/Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas/Lavender Brown, various other mentions. Warnings: Possible character death, violence and adult content. And seeing as this is a story about Seamus, language could very well be a problem.  
Note: Spur of the moment fanfiction, my first full-length fanfiction in a long, long time and the first in the Harry Potter fandom.

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 1: Parvati and the War

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Parvati Patil, age 20, walked through the streets of Muggle London lost in thought. So lost, she had apparently lost a sense of where she was actually going. Parvati was thinking about the war.

The war had flared back up when she was in her sixth year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it had even been battled within the very walls of the magical school. And there had been casualties. After that fateful battle, after Dumbledore had been killed, her parents removed Parvati and her twin sister Padma from Hogwarts. Many students had, but the school remained open for the students whose parents' felt Hogwarts was safer than home.

Since her removal from Hogwarts, she had moved into a little cottage in Hogsmeade and worked in Madam Puddifoot's teashop. On occasions, like this one, she chanced a visit into Muggle London and occasionally Diagon Alley, and did very rarely run into someone she knew. Today wasn't one of those days.

The thick fog she had long since associated with the ever-present dementors was chilly against her bear face, even the Muggles noticed the fog. She had gone out for a bit of shopping, to take her mind off of things. New robes from Diagon Alley and a few new Muggle pieces for her to wear in these jaunts into London.

Unlike some, the war had not taken a toll on Parvati Patil's good looks. She was tall, with pretty dark eyes and waist length shiny black hair, that was currently tied back and adorned with a sparkling ornamental butterfly.

Fatalities were nearly daily, she always skimmed the _Daily Prophet _for any deaths or disappearances, she always looked for people she knew. But it hardly ever was, it was usually some stuffy old Ministry witch or wizard, so far, as far she she knew, none of her classmates had been killed yet.

People were switching over to the Dark Side right and left. People were hysterical still, Parvati thought that people would stop reporting seeing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named walking through their rose bushes, but these accounts were, like attacks, almost daily. And sadly enough, they were taken seriously.

Sometimes, Parvati wondered about Harry Potter. He had left school like many other people, but he had left to hunt down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Occasionally, you'd hear of he and his two partners being spotted somewhere, on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's trail. Parvati hoped he found him soon and she hoped he could put an end to this war.

There were always wild rumors that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was un-killable, or he had done something to himself to prevent death. She didn't know whether or not she should bother to believe half of what they printed in the _Prophet. _Finally, Parvati found herself in front of the Leaky Cauldron. She slipped in unnoticed, the pub was emptier than she had remembered from her school days, but not completely deserted. She waved a hand at the old barman, indicating she was only passing through, and went to the back wall. Tapping the right brick with her wand, she walked out into Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley was dark and grey now, fog covered the street, there were only people in tight little groups, staying only to get a few items they needed and then promptly leaving. Many shops were boarded up and suspicious looking little stands had sprouted up instead.

"Aren't you a bit too pretty to be wandering around alone?" asked one particularly foul "vender", smiling to reveal broken yellow teeth.

"I'm afraid not," Parvati said briskly, walking to the end of the lane. She stopped into Madam Malkin's, to buy new robes for her work, for a very short amount of time. She stepped out carrying the small package, continued down the foggy street and when she got to a favorable spot, she Disapparated.

Hundreds of miles away, Parvati appeared outside her cozy little cottage in Hogsmeade. She walked to the door, tapped it with her wand to unlock it without setting off her alarm, and walked inside.

Her cottage was, for lack of a better term, shiny. There were pictures in gold-plated frames on the walls, there were candles with ornate holders and her furniture could only be described as positively feminine.

Parvati Patil lived alone, she had once had a boyfriend after Hogwarts, but she decided against marrying him, as when he asked she had only known him three months. In the midst of the war, people were eloping right and left and trying as fast as they could to have children, for fear of waking up the next day and dying.

While that was a very logical concern to Parvati, she wasn't interested in getting married and having children quite yet.

She fondly looked up at her most recent picture of she and Lavender Brown, her best friend, taken at Lavender's wedding to longtime friend Dean Thomas. It was the two of them and Parvati's identical twin sister Padma, all three waving and giggling happily.

Parvati picked on Lavender and Dean about their sudden wedding, siting that they were possibly made for each other simply because of each other's habits of being rather public with their affections.

Studying the picture, she saw so many of her old friends just walking in and out of the background. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Dean's best friend and best man at his wedding, Seamus Finnigan. Strangely enough, Ginny Weasley had also come to that wedding, even though she and Dean had dated briefly in Dean's sixth year, and Lavender and Ginny's youngest older brother Ron had been a very public item themselves.

Parvati had asked Ginny if she had heard anything from Harry and the others lately, and she shook her head sadly and told her that she hadn't actually seen them since her eldest brother's wedding the summer of Dumbledore's death, and they hadn't written for months.

Parvati had always kind of admired Ginny for her toughness, but with six older brothers, she figured Ginny had to be tough to get by. But Ginny looked tired and saddened at the thought of her three friends.

Parvati shook her head, she had been taken out of her reminiscing by an owl landing on her kitchen table. She untied the scroll of parchment and sent the owl back off. She unfurled the letter and smiled when she realized who it was from.

_Parvati, _

_How have you been? Everything has been great here, but I miss you! Next time you're in London, come see us, please? But before then, I'm coming to see you on Friday, because I have something important to tell you that I'd rather tell you in person. Letters are so impersonal.  
I hope you've been well, I hope you're not too lonely down in Hogsmeade without me. How's work going? Any new men in your life I should hear about?  
Well that's about it for this letter, I'll be at your house Friday at 8 o'clock. Be prepared for a nice dinner. We need to be catching up._

_With love, Lavender._

She had completely forgotten Lavender and Dean lived in London now. She cursed herself, she could have gone and visited them. But then again...maybe the fates had wanted her to get home promptly instead of stopping to see old friends. She had always loved Divination, and she firmly believed in fate, so she explained her temporary forgetfulness of her old friend as fate that she was to return home in a timely manner.

Lavender would probably buy that excuse too. Now all she had to do was was wait for a grand sign from fate.

In the meantime, she started up the hall. She planned on taking a long, hot bubble bath to get her mind off the depressing day-to-day of the war. But as she walked to the back of her house, she heard a thud in the street outside.

_Dammit, fate, _Parvati thought as she walked back towards her front door, _couldn't you have waited half an hour? _

She flung open the door and looked around, expecting a dementor attack of a grand struggle between a group of Aurors and some Death Eaters. But no, it was so much simpler than that.

Lying in the gutter, sandy-blond hair sticking to his face, a bottle of firewhisky in his hand, was...

"Seamus? Seamus Finnigan?"

The Irishman stirred, only slightly. She kneeled down to get a better look at him and he opened one bleary, bloodshot eye. "I'll be damned..." he mumbled, almost incoherently. She grabbed his arm and forced him to stand. The nearly empty bottle of firewhisky slipped from his hand and shattered.

"Wha' brings you here, Parvati?" he asked, slurring a little as he stood unsteadily.

"...I live here, Seamus."

Seamus didn't reply immediately, instead he stumbled back and nearly fell back into his nice cozy gutter.

She grabbed his arm again, "come on," she said irritably. Parvati pulled her old schoolmate into her house and sat him down at the kitchen table.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

He looked around. "I was trying to Apparate to London and I guess..."

"You were too drunk and ended up in Hogsmeade?" she guess shrewdly.

He grinned sheepishly. She noticed that he looked a real mess, he had the stubble that you attribute to a few too many days of neglecting to shave, his hair was matted and tangled, his eyes were bloodshot.

"What's _wrong _with you Seamus?"

Seamus tried to shrug, but he swayed dangerously as a result of the motion. "I just fancied a night out with the drink," he said, but she knew he was dodging the real answer.

Parvati didn't question him further, instead she busied herself with making him a class of tea, hoping it would sober him up a little bit. She pondered what might have happened to get him in such a state where he felt the need to drink himself half to death. Nothing had been reported in today's paper, so she didn't figure it was a death or anything like that.

Setting the little teacup in front of Seamus, she suddenly giggled.

As he took a swig of tea, he nearly choked in his haste to question her. "What?"

She looked at the cup clutched in her hands, she smiled. "Remember in third year when we had to do tea leaves? And Professor Trelawney predicted Harry's death?"

He laughed a little. "She liked predicting his death, didn't she? Silly old woman," he said. He had a few other choice things he could say about Professor Trelawney, but he bit his tongue remembering Parvati's affection for the old fraud.

"Do you think he's going to...?" she asked, trailing off.

Seamus bit his lip. "Nah, if anyone can, it's Harry. He can do it." But his tone implied he was more trying to convince himself than comfort Parvati.

"I'm going to bed," she said abruptly. "I don't have a second bedroom in here, but feel free to use the sofa. The bathroom is the last room down that hall if you need a shower or anything," she told him.

"G'night Parvati," he said, finishing his tea and standing as well.

She walked back to her bedroom, and shut the door. She would find out what was really wrong with Seamus in the morning after he had really sobered himself up. She heard the bathroom door click open, and close again.

A few moments later, Parvati fell asleep. Blissfully unaware that she was the only one getting to sleep tonight.

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Did you like it? I love minor characters...


	2. Chapter 2: Seamus' Truth

Thanks reviewers. This chapter is I think a little shorter than the first one, but I feel like they'll get longer as I go.

Thanks!

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 2: Seamus' Truth

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The next morning, she got up, pulled on a fluffy bathrobe, as she planned to go take a nice hot bubble bath. She had completely forgotten about Seamus, until she saw him sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of what was unmistakably firewhisky. She snatched it from him and he made a motion to get it back but failed.

"You don't need to be drinking this early in the morning," she chided him. "I'll make you some tea."

She hurried in making some tea, first taking care to dump the firewhisky in the sink. A few moments later she sat down a mug of tea identical to the one he had drank last night. She noticed that he had shaved since she had gone to bed, and his hair no longer looked dirty. But it was still in desperate need of a trim.

"So, how have you been Seamus?" she asked.

Seamus shrugged, smiling lightheartedly. "I _was_ happy, but this one broad took me firewhisky," he joked. "Nah, I've been...okay. Ya know? Dealin' with all the same as everyone else..."

"Well, you don't need to further the stereotype of drunken Irishmen to deal with it," she told him, sipping her tea.

"All I'd need was a potato...eh? And maybe some Guinness."

Parvati couldn't help but laugh. Seamus had certainly kept his sense of humor over the years. Brash, tactless, sometimes insensitive as he was, Seamus was a good friend, loyal and brave. Just like all the Gryffindor's, she supposed.

"Parvati?" Seamus finally spoke up after a minute. When she looked at him, he took a deep breath and continued. "Could I stay with you, for a few days?"

"Don't you...?" she started, but he cut her off.

"I got kicked outta the loft I was stayin' at...I'm not keen on goin' back to me parent's place either though," he explained. "I was tryin' last night to Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron after I had a few drinks in the Hog's Head, but I didn't make it too far," he admitted, laughing a little.

"You can stay here, Seamus."

He grinned, and she was strongly reminded of the 11-year-old Seamus that bragged about burning off his own eyebrows. "Thanks."

Parvati looked at the clock over the window in her kitchen and bit her lip. "Seamus, I've got to go down to work, so uh...don't break anything, if anyone comes to call, please don't let them in. Don't open any of my post and don't wander around after dark," she told him.

He nodded and smirked in a way that made Parvati sure he'd do every single one of the things she had said, just because she had told him not to.

"Where do you work?"

"Madam Puddifoot's. She's getting on in her years, you know, so she needs a bit of help once in a while."

"That stupid teashop that people snog each other in?" he asked, wrinkling his nose.

"I'm sure there were some times when we were all at school...a fair few people have snogged in there, yes. I never have, personally."

"That's a crock of shit, Parvati," he said happily. "Remember that Beauxbaton's boy in fourth year?"

Parvati blushed a little, and stood abruptly. "If you're through teasing me, I have to change and go to work."

He gave her an off-hand shrug and she left the room. As soon as she was out of his line of sight, he pulled out a fresh bottle of his favorite firewhisky and twisted the top off.

A few minutes later, she came back out of her room, dressed in clean new robes and adjusting her bracelets, he quickly hid his drink and she bade him goodbye. As soon as he saw her start off down the lane, he pulled it back out from under the table and took a long swig.

Seamus Finnigan was having the worst month of his life. But he wouldn't let that keep him down. Yeah, his girlfriend of a good hunk of time had dumped him and kicked them out of their shared loft, his mother and father had moved to the US to wait out the war. He didn't really have anywhere to go, but back in Hogsmeade, with an old school friend no less, was much better than sleeping in a damp old room in the Leaky Cauldron while the wall between the other room creak with the pressure of a headboard.

Seamus Finnigan was going to stay positive. Sure, there was a huge war going on and more than likely most of the people had had called friend would be dead within the next year if not sooner, sure, he was lonelier than he had ever been, he hadn't been in touch with his best friend, Dean, since he got married. Partially because of the twinge of jealousy every time he thought about Dean and Lavender. Seamus had liked Lavender, but after going to the Yule Ball together (a complete disaster) they didn't really become anything more. He didn't care. But sometimes he wondered.

Seamus was of the belief that girls were way more trouble than they were worth. He didn't think much more on the subject, because after a quarter of a bottle of firewhisky, going to visit Parvati at that old snog-shop sounded like a right nice idea.

He was steady, he walked across the kitchen and opened the front door, as he walked out he was careful to lock the door behind him and he set off on the short walk to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

He pushed the door open, and he saw that the shop wasn't full of people but it had a fair few costumers. The shop was decorated in such a way that reminded Seamus why he had never stepped foot in the shop in his years at Hogwarts. He'd do his snogging in a broom cupboard.

Parvati was wiping the counter down was a violently pink dish rag. She looked up and looked shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I got bored," he said, sitting down at one of the tables.

"I've barely been gone an hour!" she retorted sharply.

Madam Puddifoot made her way over to his table, but Parvati stopped her. "He's just here to...well, I don't know, but he's a friend of mine."

Madam Puddifoot gave her a knowing look and walked back into the back room. The door opened again and a big guy, at least twice as old as either Seamus or Parvati, strolled in. He leaned up against the counter Parvati had been wiping down and smiled in a way that seriously unsettled the slightly tipsy Seamus.

Parvati rolled her eyes at the man as he tried to engage her in conversation. After a few moments, she looked at him, her eyes blazing. "If you don't leave, I'm going to hex you," she told him firmly.

"You're far too pretty to be hexing people, young lady," he said, finally speaking up to where more than just Parvati could hear.

"Oy, tubby!" Seamus called from across the bar. He had just secretly downed most of his remaining firewhisky, which made it seem like a good idea to confront someone that was at least two times his size, body weight and age. He was brave, of course, he was a Gryffindor. But brave and stupid are two different things.

This was _not _bravery.

"What'd you call me?" the man snapped, approaching Seamus.

Seamus had always been quite a bit reckless. This was just up his alley. The man pulled out his wand, perfectly ready to hex Seamus the next time he said a word.

"I called you tubby, you know. It might do you well to shed a few pounds. That's what I was saying. So why don't you leave my friend alone," he said. Well, that's what he tried to say. It came out a bit more slurred than he had intended.

"Are you drunk, kid?"

"Maybe, a little, a wee bit you know."

Parvati clapped her hand to her forehead. He was going to get himself killed. But at this point, she didn't know how much she'd mind. But almost as soon as the old man raised his wand she whipped out her own wand. "_Stupefy!"_ she shouted, blasting the man. He fell down, Stunned. Parvati made Seamus drag him out into the street and revive him.

When he came back inside, he was face to face with a rather furious Parvati.

"Seamus go home, and stay there!" she snapped at him.

He frowned a little. It had seemed like a good idea to begin with, why was she angry?

When he got back to Parvati's cottage, he sat down on the big, plush sofa in the middle of her sitting room. He rubbed his face with his hands and tried to sober himself up, even a little.

Seamus was snoring loudly when Parvati got home that night. She laughed to herself and realized he probably hadn't eaten all day, so she shook him awake. "Do you want some dinner?" she asked him.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"That's not answering my question."

"Well duh I want dinner. Now answer _my_ question..."

She crossed her arms over her chest, her gold bangles swinging slightly. "A little."

He pouted. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

Parvati tapped her foot impatiently. "You barged into the place where I work drunk! You tried to pick a fight!" she snapped.

"I thought he was cheeking you," Seamus defended, trying to make his noble intentions known.

"I can handle people myself, Seamus. I'm _not_ a baby and I'm _not_ a drunk, unlike someone else in this room."

Seamus looked around frantically for someone else. "Oh...you were talking about me weren't ya?"

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Reviews? Love!


	3. Chapter 3: Lavender's Big Surprise

A/N: Thanks to reviewers and my helpful buddies that have helped me through. This chapter is a bit longer than expected.

Background: A crup is a Wizard-bred dog, it looks like a Jack-Russell Terrier but it has a forked tail, but wizards who own them usually remove the tails as not to draw attention to them if they live in a Muggle-populated area. I just interpreted that a Crup would act like a Jack Russell as well as look like one.

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 3: Lavender's Big Surprise

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The next few days passed with little incident, but two days after Seamus had arrived at Parvati's, she looked at him pointedly. "Lavender is coming to visit tomorrow. And, you haven't changed your clothes in three days."

He looked up from his plate of food, and looked down at his clothes. They weren't the best, it was a Muggle outfit, and his shirt was getting dirtier by the minute it seemed. "Oh...well I don't actually have anything else to wear."

"I figured that much," she told him, rolling her eyes. "Well, we'll have to go to London and get you some new clothes."

"Can't YOU go to London and buy me new clothes?" he grumbled. Seamus really hated shopping for stupid stuff, like clothes.

Parvati put her hands on her hips, looking menacing. "You have to come, if you don't, I'll buy you girl robes. All frilly and pink!" The mental picture of Seamus in bright, frilly pink robes was obviously very funny, Parvati burst into a fit of giggling. "And we have to buy you some Muggle clothes too, in case we go into Muggle London, we won't want to look suspicious."

Seamus rolled his eyes.

"But first, we'll have to clean _those," _she said, pointing at his Muggle T-shirt and jeans with her wand. She muttered a quick spell and moved her wand about his clothes almost like a vacuum. "I never realized that shirt was white," she told him as they strode out into the cobble-stoned street and Disapparated.

Diagon Alley was unusually chilly, and it was fuller than Parvati had seen it in many months. But she knew by later this afternoon it would be practically empty again. After the shortest stint to Gringotts they could afford, and exchanging a little bit of Seamus' money for a little bit of Muggle money, Parvati dragged Seamus into Madam Malkin's, and after 30 minutes of griping and measuring, he got what Parvati called a "nice set" of blue robes. Seamus referred to them as "flaming gay". After much argument, he also got a plain black pair and then they set off into Muggle London.

After another two hours in which Seamus argued with Parvati fiercely about buying a pair of silk pajamas with his initials sewn into them, ("I could just sleep naked" he defended, "like I'd want to see that!") they were back at her cottage in Hogsmeade.

"Couldn't we have just shopped here?" Seamus asked.

"I don't really like the clothing stores around here," she said airily.

The day went by quietly enough, Parvati didn't have to go in to Madam Puddifoot's, so they actually had a meal together. Parvati didn't look it but she was quite a good cook.

"You wouldn't think it, but you're a really good cook."

This simple, seemingly harmless attempt at a compliment was the wrong thing to say, Seamus realized seconds later.

Parvati turned around and leered at Seamus. "What do you mean 'you wouldn't think it'?" she asked dangerously.

"I- I just meant that- you just don't seem like the cooking type," he said, hoping that was the right answer.

Wrong answer.

"And what type do I seem like, Seamus?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

He gulped. "Well, in school, you were always so gossipy and giggly and I thought that you'd probably be someone who like, got other people to do certain things for you..." What might have been a strong statement deflated along with Seamus as he trailed off, flinching under her ferocious gaze.

"So you just assumed, because you thought I was some kind of no-brained girly-girl, that I couldn't even _cook _for myself?"

"No! That's not what I meant at all. I just meant, I figured you could cook, I just didn't think you'd enjoy cooking."

Right answer. She smiled and turned back around, only to see what she had been cooking had been blackened to an irreparable extent. Cursing in frustration, she started over and after another forty-five minutes, dinner was ready.

"Why do you live alone?" he asked her suddenly. "I thought you'd live with, I don't know, Padma or something. Or be married."

"I had that chance, but it seemed like it wasn't right. Fate might've been telling me something then," she told him.

"You believe in fate?" he asked.

She simply nodded, smiling mysteriously.

"What's with the little smile?" he asked, looking suspicious.

She laughed. "It's stupid. I got a letter from Lavender the day you showed up, reminding me that anytime I was in London, I should go see her. And I had just been in London!"

"So? You just forgot, that's not fateful at all," he interrupted.

"Why would I forget that my best friend lived barely a five minute walk from where I had just been?"

He thought hard, he was really trying to prove her wrong on this one. "Maybe you were preoccupied, still not seeing what's fateful."

"Well, I was wondering myself. And then you were in the gutter hardly a meter outside my door, so I called it fate," she finished.

"So you think finding me drunk in a gutter was fate?" he asked incredulously.

"Pretty much," she replied shrugging a little.

"I just think I was too drunk to Apparate properly. It's all coincidence," he told her dismissively.

"Whatever you say."

After dinner, Parvati read the _Prophet_ and Seamus asked her questions about what was going on in the world. He didn't particularly enjoy reading, himself.

It was quickly getting late, and at eleven o'clock, Parvati folded up the paper and got up. "Goodnight, Seamus," she said.

"G'night Parvati," he replied, not getting up.

She stopped in the kitchen doorway for a second, like she was thinking of saying something, but she hesitated, and left the room.

As soon as Seamus heard her bedroom door click shut, he got up. He walked into the sitting room, where parcels of robes and other random clothing were lying on his makeshift bed. He opened a couple until he found the pajamas Parvati had insisted on buying. He went into the bathroom, stared at himself in the mirror for a minute, changed into his pajamas and went back to the couch.

He cleared all of the packages off of his "bed" and lied down. He barely felt like he had fallen asleep before a shrill giggle awoke him.

"I can't believe it!" He heard the ever-familiar voice of Lavender Brown in his ear.

He jumped up. "What the-? What are you-? Go away!" he yelled instinctively, grabbing a blanket and covering himself with it.

"Seamus...it's not like you're naked..." Parvati said, entering the room, already fully dressed and carrying a tray of tea and sandwiches.

"Well- I mean- couldn't you have waken me up- like _before she got here_?" he asked her, still baffled at what was going on.

Seamus hurried out of the room into the bathroom, he changed into anything other than those "gay silk pajamas". Feeling he would give Parvati a piece of his mind about not waking him before her friends came over, and letting her friends ogle him while he slept. Seamus was _not _an attractive sleeper.

When he reentered, the pair of them were sitting on his makeshift bed chattering away happily. He stood there awkwardly until he remembered there were other places to sit.

"So," Lavender said importantly. "I have an announcement." Seamus wasn't really listening.

"Me and Dean have been married a whole year," she continued.

Seamus really stopped listening, he staring playing with the hem of his robes.

"And, we weren't sure, with the war going on." She paused dramatically. "That we'd be able to handle it," she finished imperiously.

Seamus played with the fingernails on his left hand. He wondered where he'd put his wand.

"But, well..." she continued, her own excitement mounting as she looked from Parvati to Seamus.

Seamus still was not listening.

"I'm pregnant!" she ended, laughing out of sheer excitement.

Seamus snapped out of his personal trance that very instant.

Parvati choked on her tea. "Merlin! That's amazing! Is it a girl? Is it a boy? What are you guys going to name it?" Parvati seemed as excited as Lavender.

Lavender hesitated. "Well, uh, I was hoping that you could do me a favor, Parvati..." she said, biting her lip. "I haven't exactly...told Dean yet. I'm scared of how he'll react..." she continued. "Would you...tell him for me?" she asked.

Parvati gaped at her. "You haven't...?"

Seamus, however, smirked. "I'll tell him, I've been needin' to see ol' Dean anyway."

Lavender didn't catch the glint in Seamus' eye, but Parvati saw it and jumped in. "We'll _both _do it, right Seamus?" she said, glaring as Seamus over Lavender's shoulder.

He shrugged in a noncommittal way. "Yeah, sure."

After a lunch where the two giggly girls chatted, occasionally firing questions at an unsuspecting Seamus, Lavender announced that Dean would be home from work any second and she should be there to meet him.

"I'll owl you about...you know, telling him, tonight. I've got shopping to do tomorrow so maybe you could mention it to him while I'm out."

Parvati and Seamus both nodded. As soon as Lavender walked out the door, disappearing on Parvati's doorstep, Parvati glared at him.

"_You're_ planning something," she shot at him.

"No, I suspect something. How many girls _don't _tell their husbands they're pregnant the second they find out? There's something going on," he told her.

Parvati laughed. "No there isn't, Seamus! Lavender is just a bit of a chicken when it comes to important things, she can't help it. As long as you don't go and tell Dean you impregnated her or something equally idiotic."

"He'd know I was lying the second that thing popped out," he defended. "Then again he'd probably know if she cheated on him the second it came out too..."

"Don't sabotage my friend's happiness just because you have some unseen problem with her," she told him sharply, pointing her wand at him. "Or I'll turn you into an "I'm sorry" bouquet for her."

"Okay, okay, we'll tell him and expect him to be ecstatic or whatever silly idea of how guys react to pregnancy you girls have in your heads."

Parvati raised a slender eyebrow. "Silly idea of how guys react?" she asked. "How do guys _really_ react, Mr. All-Knowing?"

Seamus laughed. "Everyone knows guys are terrified of pregnant women. They all internally react the same way, _"oh shit" "there goes my sex life" _or _"good, her tits' will get bigger". _Simple as that, the only exception is if they were really _trying _to have a baby. And I know Dean, he had no intentions of knocking her up."

"You are such a typical male," Parvati said, trying to sound angry even though she was clearly amused.

"It's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," he confessed innocently. "If I find out you were pregnant, I might..."

"Be mystified seeing as I haven't had an encounter that might even possibly result in a baby in two years..." she cut over him, looking as though she might smack him.

He didn't have time to stop himself. "We could change that, without the bab-"

Parvati smacked him across the face, hard. "You're sleeping outside with The Dog."

The Dog was actually Parvati's pet crup, Goliath, who much enjoyed biting Seamus' ankles while it happily wagged its little stub of a tail. Goliath tended to wreck Parvati's house, so she kept him outside in her back garden. She didn't mess with the garden often, just to keep the grass short, keep the weeds out of the pretty flowers that the woman who had owned the cottage before her had planted. There was a hammock set up between two withering, foreboding looking old trees.

Half an hour of shouting ensued, and Seamus was finally locked in the back garden.

A ream of yapping barks hit him as the ten pound crup collided with Seamus' ankles, jumping up and down in front of him like some kind of freakish bouncing ball. "Get down Goliath," he said dully as he trotted over to the dilapidated hammock he would be sleeping on tonight. _Hey, it might be better than the couch..._ he told himself. He cleaned leaves, dirt and crup-poo from the hammock before lying down on it. It wasn't an extremely cold night, so he didn't really mind sleeping on the hammock, or he wouldn't have if Goliath hadn't decided to join him. The small dog plopped himself down on Seamus' chest, licking his face.

Seamus could do nothing to save himself but pet the beast. Finally Goliath fell asleep, and soon after Seamus did too.

Looking out her bedroom window, she saw Seamus lying on the hammock with Goliath firmly planted on his chest, both of them fast asleep.

"If he hadn't been so obnoxious, he wouldn't have had to sleep outside," she told herself before settling into her own bed. She had only made that last comment to try to convince herself that it was fair to make Seamus sleep outside with Goliath.

She almost felt bad for it.

Almost.

* * *

The next morning Parvati rose, cheerful and well-rested. She dressed and went out to the sitting room to wake Seamus, but as she got to the couch she remembered he had slept outside. She hurried to the back door and opened it. Seamus was still asleep, so she carefully walked over to the corner of the fenced in garden where he was asleep. 

Goliath awoke as she approached, yapping happily and jumping down to greet her, she kneeled down and started scratching behind his ear. His barking woke Seamus, who sat up on the hammock as Parvati straightened back up from petting the little dog.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. "Would you like to come inside for some toast?" she asked.

He grunted and slid off the hammock to walk back inside.

But Parvati had left the back door open, and Goliath bolted in before either of them could shut the door.

"Oh no! He'll wreck the house!" she said fretfully, hurrying back inside.

Seamus sniggered to himself, strolling into the little house and closing the back door dutifully behind him. The yaps of the little crup echoed from the next room.

"Maybe you should give him some toast," Seamus suggested, laughing. He grabbed the _Daily Prophet_ that had only been delivered moments before, and unfolded it. A piece of parchment fell out of it, he squinted. "Parvati, you've got a letter," he called over his shoulder as he skimmed the news paper for any kind of interesting story.

Later that day, after Parvati had wrestled the hyper little dog back outside, she demanded that Seamus clean up the house while she cooked lunch.

"You didn't help me put Goliath back outside, so you'll clean up after him," she snapped.

He decided not to reply, as he didn't want to end up sleeping outside again. Seamus went room-to-room and waved his wand, removing muddy dog-prints and putting books back up on their shelves as he went.

Fifteen minutes later he came back down the hall to the kitchen, where Parvati was eating a bowl of soup.

"We're going to Dean and Lavender's place after lunch, so hurry up," she told him.


	4. Chapter 4: Explosive Tendancies

A/N: I did part of this chapter funny, and for a friend. She loves her some explosions. Then it spiraled downward.

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 4: Explosive Tendancies

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"She's WHAT?"

Dean's reaction to the "wonderful news" was definitely not how Parvati had imagined it. He had practically exploded.

"When-? Where-? Who-? I mean...bloody hell. Why didn't _she _tell me?" Dean stammered.

Definitely not how Parvati had imagined it.

"Look, mate," Seamus started, stepping forward. "Your wifey-poo is a bloody coward so we came to tell you she's knocked up with what's soon to be your spawn. Cheer up."

Dean still looked rather flustered.

"I'll make you some tea," Seamus said, getting up from his seat and walking into the kitchen. Only a few minutes later, Parvati realized she definitely should have offered to make the tea.

Seamus had blown up...well, most of the kitchen. Trying to make _tea. _When Parvati and Dean had hurried into the kitchen to see the source of the noise, Dean dissolved into hysterical laughs and Parvati took charge, whipping out her wand and setting the room right.

She promptly kicked both boys out of the kitchen.

"You are _useless_ Seamus Finnigan," she snapped.

"I am not," he said, magicking his eyebrows back on.

"Yes you are," she argued as she brought out a tea tray.

He shrugged. "Maybe, but at least I'm cute."

Dean snorted. "Seamus, you're flattering yourself again, I thought we broke that habit."

Seamus grumbled something about not being respected and pouted for the rest of the visit with Dean, they left promptly when Lavender returned home and she and Dean started shouting at each other about things that Seamus and Parvati, as two single (AKA sensible) people, didn't quite understand.

When Seamus and Parvati arrived home, Parvati disappeared into her room to write her sister a letter, telling her all about Lavender and the recent events in her life in general. Seamus sat at the kitchen table and skimmed the _Evening Prophet_ from the night before.

And for once, Seamus was in deep thought.

Was he really useless?

Probably. He didn't have a job, he wouldn't have the money his mother had left him when she had taken off for too much longer, he was just hanging around. Hanging around with his old school friend, a girl who probably didn't think he was worth anything. What was he best known for in Parvati's eyes anyway? The kid that blew stuff up a lot, the guy that took her best friend to the Yule Ball? Just Seamus, really.

He was just Seamus, kind of useless if you asked anybody.

He couldn't even make a pot of tea without blowing it up.

But...she didn't even seem to care, she cleaned up after him, she let him stay with her, she didn't push him around.

"Seamus?"

There was something different about Parvati's voice as she walked into the kitchen.

But Seamus was in a foul mood, nonetheless, and didn't notice.

He stood up and walked over to her, and as he crossed the doorway where she was standing, she got a little bit closer.

_Too close._

They might have stood there for a minute, a day, a week, a month, a year, a century. But for years to come, Seamus really didn't know why he did what he did.

He walked away.

"G'night, Parvati."

Still standing in the doorway, Parvati looked confused. And maybe hurt. After standing there for another few seconds, she stormed off to her own bedroom.

"Do you want some breakfast?" she asked him coolly, the next morning.

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

About midday, Seamus got up and walked out of the house without so much as a goodbye.

He walked into the Hog's Head, sat down at the bar and ordered a firewhisky. The barman, a tall thin man that looked very, very familiar to Seamus, handed him a smoking goblet.

He might've been there for hours, talking to whoever came up to the bar and sat down next to him. By nightfall, he had drained ten full goblets and had his head on the bar.

The barman prodded him sharply with his wand. "Don't you have somewhere to go, kid?" he asked suspiciously.

"I don't actually know anymore," he mumbled, lifting up to look at the barman. "I'll leave though..."

He stumbled out of the bar, walking in the direction of Parvati's house. When he got to the door, he noticed the lights were still on, but it didn't register that Parvati was probably waiting up for him. He pushed the door open and the first thing he saw was a wand pointed at his face.

"What in the hell, Seamus?" Parvati snapped angrily. "Can you not knock? Where have you been all day?"

He didn't reply. He was too drunk to string together a sentence. He just walked past her and fell over on the couch.

Parvati was livid. She went back to her room, slamming the door behind her so loudly that Goliath started barking in the back garden. "Who does he think he is?" she growled. "Runs off to go on a drinking binge for Merlin-knows-what stupid reason! And I was actually_ worried _about him!"

True, Parvati had left her house just before sundown to try and find Seamus, but she saw him through the dirty window of the Hog's Head and was so furious, she didn't bother going in and asking him to return home. She didn't know or care what was wrong with Seamus at this point, if there even was something wrong.

There was a tapping at Parvati's bedroom window, she opened it just enough that a small barn owl flew in. She knew this to be Ginny Weasley's owl, Io. She took the letter it had clamped in its beak and the owl flew off into the night.

Reading the letter, her anger with Seamus dissolved. Parvati was filled with a dreadful sense of responsibility.

She had to tell him, yes. But she would wait until morning. Clutching the little scroll in her hand, she said down feebly. It might've been shock, or panic. She wouldn't let Seamus avoid her tomorrow, she'd catch him first thing in the morning to tell him.

Stifling a faint sob, she changed into her pajamas and got into bed.

The next morning, Parvati woke at the crack of dawn. She hadn't intended to, but she did. Grabbing her fuzzy pink bathrobe, she walked into the sitting room and kneeled down in front of the snoring Seamus. She shook him hard until he woke up.

"Bloody hell my head hurts. Parvati? What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the grim look on Parvati's face. He was half-asleep and didn't quite understand how severe the situation might just be.

"I hate to wake you up so early. But, I got a letter from Ginny last night," she started, biting her lower lip. "It's Neville. He's...he's really hurt. He's in St. Mungo's and they don't know if he'll live. He...battled Bellatrix Lestrange, that insane Death Eater."

Seamus sat up almost immediately. "The one that...his parents?" he stuttered. Maybe he was still half-drunk. Neville, of all people, had taken on a Death Eater? But he was still alive, it seemed. Neville, as much as Seamus had maybe picked on him in their school days, was a good friend.

"We'll go see him tomorrow."

"Why not today?"

"Because Ginny said he wasn't going to be open for visitors other than his family until tomorrow."

Seamus nodded and made to lie back down, but Parvati sat down beside him. "It looks serious doesn't it?" she asked him in a hushed voice.

Yawning, he nodded. "I expect it should be. Harry hasn't...defeated him yet. It's always going to look serious, isn't it?"

Parvati remembered how angry she had been last night, and connected how Seamus was acting now. She stood up abruptly. "I'll let you get back to sleep," she said briskly.

"Dammit Parvati, what'd I do NOW?" he shouted. He had caught the hint this time. He wasn't completely stupid.

"You just don't care, Seamus!" she shot at him.

"Of course I care! He's my friend as much as he is yours!" he snapped.

Parvati had tears in her eyes. "Not about that! I know you care about that! I was talking about _me, _Seamus." And she left the room.

She stayed in there most of the day, he tried to coax her out with various offers. Lunch? No. Tea? No. Dinner? No.

He lied awake most of the night, he heard her creep out of her room and into the kitchen for some food. But he didn't say a word to her. He didn't let her know that he knew she was awake. Shortly after that, she returned to her room.

Seamus wondered why she had been so upset. Of course he cared about her feelings, she was his friends. But...well, he fell back on the fool-proof theory that girls were all nutters.

Because there was definitely, no way in hell, not a chance that Parvati Patil liked Seamus Finnigan the way Seamus Finnigan might've liked Parvati Patil.

And for Seamus, it might not have been the most comforting thought to sleep on.

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	5. Chapter 5: St Mungo's

A/N: Woo. Finally I find the time to update!

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 5: St. Mungo's

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Parvati was very cool towards Seamus the next day, he ignored it and tried to behave as pleasantly as possible. His temper was very, very near the surface by lunch when Parvati informed him they would be going to St. Mungo's after they had eaten.

He had completely forgotten.

"Oh, okay," he replied, nodding. After a quick lunch, he dawdled around the sitting room waiting for Parvati to get dressed, when she returned from her room they Apparated out to St. Mungo's.

St. Mungo's wasn't full to the brim this morning as it typically was. The harassed looking blond witch at the front desk was idly flipping through a copy of _Witch Weekly _because for once things were quiet. Parvati approached the front desk, the blond witch looked up.

"We're here to see Neville Longbottom," she said briskly.

"You'll be satisfied, he just got his voice back last night, the Healers were afraid he'd never talk again," she told them casually. "But he'd be on the 4th floor," she told them.

They had only walked a short way from the desk when someone shouted "Parvati! Seamus!"

They turned to see Ginny Weasley hurrying up to them. "Hi, how are you guys?" she asked.

"I'm doing okay, how are you?" Parvati said, slightly startled at how much older Ginny looked since the last time she had seen her. She would be 19 now, Parvati remembered, but she looked so much older.

"Well, I'll sleep again when all of this is over," she said with a vague smile. "Come on, Ill take you up there. I think Luna is with him right now, I just stepped out for some food."

They walked up to the fourth floor, and when they came to what Ginny told them was Neville's ward, they saw Fred and George Weasley standing in the hall talking to Luna Lovegood. Luna was as blond and misty eyed as ever.

"Why are we out in the hall?" Ginny asked her brothers.

Like Ginny, both Fred and George had a tired, worn look to them, but they still gave off the impression of great fun. "McGonagall is in their with Mrs. Longbottom and Neville, I think Lupin and Tonks are in there too, they wanted a word alone, they said," one of the twins answered. Parvati could never be sure of which one.

"Must be Order stuff," Ginny told them shortly.

Parvati and Seamus could not make heads or tails of this comment, before George (or Fred?) put his ear to the door and made a noise of distaste. "They're talking about an Order of Merlin right now, I think they'll be awhile, how about some tea?" he suggested.

"Good idea," Ginny said, and everyone else agreed.

They marched up to the fifth floor tea room, it was crowded with disgruntled visitors. They found a free table big enough for the six of them and sat down. In her younger years, Parvati would not have imagined sitting with a group like this.

"Luna?" Ginny asked as she sat down with a tray of tea and random snacks.

"Hmm?"

"You're being quiet," she explained. "Are you okay?"

Luna smiled in her own dreamy fashion. "Oh, yes. I'm okay." The blond girl took a cup of tea and sipped it. "I'm just wondering when Neville will get better, honestly."

The rest of them looked at each other. None of them had really even considered the fact that Neville _would _get better.

"I know he will, I do hope it's soon," she said vaguely, setting down her teacup.

Ginny looked at Parvati and bit her lip, she had not heard much words of Neville's improvements other than he had gotten back his ability to speak. As positive of a step as that was, she wasn't sure if he'd make it much farther. Maybe he would, though, Neville was always full of surprises.

Seamus was levitating a small stirring spoon a couple inches off the table, looking bored and grumpy. The atmosphere of the hospital was dreary and depressing. Harassed looking witches and wizards were scurrying in and out of the little tea shop, led by Healers who had news of their families. It was as inviting as a Death Day Party.

The doors to the teashop opened softly once more and Seamus looked up, his spoon falling to the table loudly, their old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Lupin, was walking up followed by a very pretty woman with tightly curling blue hair.

"Hello," he said to them, looking mostly at the three Weasley's.

"Wotcher," the young woman said, waving at Ginny.

"How is it?" Ginny asked.

Lupin stroked his chin a little. "He's fine at the moment, I think he'd much rather see you lot than sit in their with his grandmother and McGonagall any longer though," he told them with a weak smile.

They all looked at each other and nodded. "We'll be down there in a minute, okay?" Ginny said.

Lupin and the pretty woman left, talking in harassed whispers. After they were out of sight, they group stood up, cleared off their table and walked back down to the fourth floor, when they arrived at Neville's ward, they saw his grandmother leaning in the door talking to him. "You'll be alright? I'm just going to go up and grab some tea, I'll be back down in a few moments," she told him.

His reply was muffled from inside the room, and Mrs. Longbottom straightened up and looked at them. She was a formidable old woman, her hat was still topped with a stuffed vulture that was slowly but surely rotting. She was soon joined by a careworn looking Professor McGonagall, who barely paid them any mind before setting off to the tearoom with her old friend.

They walked inside, careful to be quiet, incase there were sleeping people in the ward with their friend.

Luna collapsed into a seat beside Neville's bed, which was the closest bed to the door. The rest of them stood around him in a sort of distorted semicircle.

"Hey guys," he said in a hoarse voice that didn't sound like it belonged to him. "How's it going?"

Seamus saw Parvati's fist tighten on the thin blanket over his bed. "We're doing fine," she said, her voice sounded brittle. "How are _you?" _It was a pointless question to ask, their was a papery quality to his face, which was much thinner than when they had last encountered him, there were long scratches across his cheeks, neck and forehead, but he seemed in decent spirits.

Neville managed a weak laugh. "Oh, well I'm not dead and I still remember most of my life," he told them, staring down at the bed. "I mean, I've seen much worse at the hands of _her," _he added.

No one would argue that point.

"So how many days have you been locked up in this hellhole?" George asked him, looking around.

"About a week now, they hardly even let Gran come and see me for a few days, they thought I was a goner for sure," he informed them.

"They really thought you were going to die?" Ginny asked him, concerned.

He shrugged. "Or they thought I was going to lose my mind, whatever she did to me didn't really stop until I got here, I don't remember what it was and I don't really remember how I got here, but apart from some very annoying side-effects, I'm okay physically they said."

"Phys-," Parvati started, but Seamus shook his head at her.

A crease formed in between his eyebrows, but he ignored whatever had bothered him. "Everyone keeps telling me I finally lived up to my dad and how proud they are of me, it was nice at first, and I know they're just trying to make me feel better, but it's almost a little wearing now."

"Well, they're proud," Luna said simply. "Everyone is proud of you Neville. I know I am, at least," she told him. She had said this in such a dreamy manner that Neville looked at Seamus in a way that was clearly asking him if he should take the girl seriously. But he didn't ask, and Luna pulled out a copy of _The Quibbler_ and began reading.

"So you think you're going to be out of here soon?" Seamus asked him casually.

"I have no idea, really," he answered. "They aren't telling me much, just coming in here, giving me a bunch of potions and ointments and hurrying back outs. Healers have a lot on their hands now, with all the injuries that have been happening. Gran always comes in here and tells me that the Healers have told her this and that but it's hard to get anything out of it," he admitted. "No one else from Hogwarts has come to see you, have they?" Fred asked him. "Have you heard from anyone?"

He shook his head. "Just you guys. I don't mind though, even though it is good to get a break from Gran and all the adults that come in here to talk to me."

"What do they tell you?" Fred pressed. Ginny looked like she'd quite like to hit Fred for asking so many pointless questions.

Neville looked torn between telling them and not telling them, but decided his friends were trustworthy enough. "Just stuff, like where they think certain Death Eaters are, they mentioned Harry once, that they had talked to him very briefly just a few weeks ago," he said.

Ginny's eyes widened. "They've seen Harry?" she asked.

Parvati smiled, that Weasley girl had always fancied Harry and it seemed that throughout everything that was one thing that hadn't really changed.

"Lupin said he wasn't looking too good," Neville admitted. "A bit like Mad-Eye Moody, he said, really."

Ginny looked to her brothers, chewing on her lower lip a bit.

"Do you know of anyone who's, you know, died recently?" Seamus asked him. Parvati glared at him for the brusqueness of the question, but Neville didn't seem to mind. He pulled out a copy of the _Daily Prophet _and flipped through it.

"A Death Eater called Nott, a few people have been savaged by Greyback, and there have been lots of dementor attacks...oh..." he stopped for a second, his eyebrows raised. "Draco Malfoy, apparently."

A gasp circulated around the bed. "By an Auror or...?" Luna asked, trying to get a better look at the paper from her seat.

"I think it was on You-Know-Who's orders," he said. "But it doesn't really say."

The news of that death was more shocking than it was upsetting, no one standing their around Neville Longbottom's hospital bed had ever particularly liked Draco Malfoy, but they hadn't ever wished him dead.

The door swung open and a weary looking Healer walked in with a huge smoking goblet, followed by Mrs. Longbottom.

"We'll be off then, Neville," Ginny said.

"Yeah, see ya mate," the twins chorused as the three Weasley's left the ward, Parvati and Seamus said their good-byes and left as well.

When they had Apparated back into Hogsmeade village, the main road was abandoned and it was much darker and colder than it should've been. "Let's get inside," Parvati said. She unlocked the door and they walked inside Parvati's little house.

Seamus collapsed on the couch without a word. Parvati took this as him not really feeling the particular urge to talk, so she walked back to her bathroom to get ready for bed.

Long after his roommate had gone to bed, Seamus stared at the ceiling, completely awake. Was that their fate? Who would be lying in a hospital bed talking casually about dementor and werewolf attacks next? Would it be him or Dean or Parvati or Ginny, any of the other Weasleys? Would they look beyond their years with scars and fatigue like Ginny?

He didn't allow himself to dwell on these questions. He willed himself to sleep, trying to push the war that was waging around them out of his mind.


	6. Chapter 6: Dementor

A/N: I took inspiration for this chapter from OotP, Seamus' first (and only) DA meeting, when he tries to conjure a Patronus, he says it's "definitely something hairy".

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 6: Dementor

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The next day breakfast was extremely subdued. Every couple of minutes Parvati would look up, and Seamus would turn his head, trying to hide that he had been staring at her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him, unamused.

"It was just disturbing," he said flatly. "Seeing him in that bed."

Parvati stared at him. "Of course it is, but this is a war. People are going to get hurt," she told him.

"I know! I'm not completely stupid," he told her. "It could be any of us next. Any of our friends, you, me, our families. Harry, Ginny, Dean, any of them. And it's scary."

She nodded, unable to speak.

"But I think we'll beat him. I think this is going to be like all the old books. The good guys always win."

Parvati laughed. "I'm glad someone is positive about it."

"You don't think Harry will beat him?" he asked, staring at a burn in the table.

"I think that Harry isn't going to triumph like you say he is. I think he's going to lose a big part of him, coming out of this."

They finished breakfast in silence. When Parvati stood up and began clearing the table, she looked at him sternly. "What's bothering you?" she asked.

Seamus considered shouting the answer at her, maybe throwing things. He was frustrated with the games already. But he forced a humorless laugh. "Nothing, Parvati, really."

She looked at him sadly, and finished cleaning up. "Well, I have to go to Madam Puddifoot's in a few minutes, I'll be home sometime this evening," she told him. She walked away, but stopped at the door. "Everyone needs someone strong to help them through stuff like this. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," he said shortly.

"Okay. Have a good day," she said, walking out of the kitchen and leaving the house.

Seamus laughed to himself, then felt disgusted. True, everyone needed someone strong to help them through tough times like this. _But was she implying that she needs me or that I need her? _he asked himself.

He got up and paced about the house, he even considered going outside and playing with Goliath. As soon as the thought passed through his head, he heard the dog barking. He looked outside and noticed it was a considerable amount darker than it should be. That could only mean one thing.

He pushed open the back door and ushered the little dog inside. He grabbed it before it could get a head start in terrorizing the house. "You be calm, or I'll let the dementors get you," he snapped. Goliath seemed to take heed to the (very empty) threat, when he put the little dog back down he simply jumped up on the couch where Seamus slept, curled up and stared at the man before him.

Sitting on the couch, absentmindedly stroking Goliath and staring at the ceiling, Seamus forgot all about the dementors and decided he'd go out for a drink.

He got up, told the crup that if he didn't behave he'd give him a good hard kick, and walked out, locking the door behind him. When he got outside he was instantly his with an unnatural blast of cold.

Not thinking anything of it, he continued down the street. Looking over his shoulder, Seamus remembered why he had put the dog inside.

Dementors were swarming over Hogsmeade, a dozen or maybe more, huge with sweeping black cloaks and the same rattling breath. He felt the same blast of cold and things began to go dark as one of the dementors glided nearer. He started to hear voices, things that made him look around to see if the people of his past could be whispering in his ear.

_"We're leaving Seamus. We have to leave. We'll be back." _

_"I never loved you anyway, Seamus. So leave." _

He was still stuck somewhere between reality and the overwhelming darkness. "_Expecto patronum. Expecto...patronum." _

He had long since been capable of a Patronus. But his head was buzzing with grief and all the things he had lost sleep over.

He had all but given up when he fell back. "_Expecto..." _He could feel breath on his face, he backed away a few feet without standing, and covered his face. He could feel dead hands on his arms.

But a faraway voice was calling after him, sounding terrified, sounding worried. "Seamus!"

Suddenly Seamus could see again.

"Seamus!"

He didn't stand, but the voice that he half-way believed to be in his head filled his thoughts. He knew the voice from somewhere. "_Expecto patronum!" _

A silver bear, huge and lumbering charged down the dementor with its strange rolling gait, and charged at the rest of the dementors swarming the village before turning back and dissolving.

Exhausted from the effort, Seamus was lying back against a building, breathing heavily.

"Seamus!"

That same weird, faraway voice seemed so much closer now, and he felt a warm hand grab his arm. Opening an eye to look at the hand in question, he saw the sparkling bangles and rings of Parvati Patil.

"Parvati..." he started, sitting up straighter and opening his eyes.

"Are you okay? I tried to get out and help you but, Madam Puddifoot wouldn't let me," she told him, sounding scared but relieved. "I'm so glad you're okay..."

He stood up, shaking a little. "It takes a little out of ya...doesn't it?" he said, laughing a little. "I'll just head back home then, shall I?"

"I'll walk with you, I told Madam Puddifoot I might need to go home."

Seamus shook his head. "No, I'm fine, go back to work if you want," he said.

"No, I'm going to come home with you," she insisted.

He didn't argue, and they walked home. Parvati kept looking at him like he would drop dead any second. She led him inside and sat him down on the couch, then disappeared into the kitchen.

"Eat this," she said forcefully. "It'll help," she added, shoving a bar of chocolate into his hands.

He unwrapped it slowly, staring at the slab of chocolate. "Thanks."

"For what?" she inquired, sitting down beside him and breaking off some of the chocolate for herself.

Seamus shrugged. "I thought I was going to die or something, out there," he told her suddenly. "I couldn't think to get the dementor away."

"But how did you?"

"I heard you shouting. It brought me back to reality enough, I guess." He didn't know why he had just told her that. It just seemed appropriate.

Parvati didn't say anything in response, she just sat there and watched him eat a bit of the chocolate.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to work?"

"It's fine, I'll stay here. I should be getting a letter from my mother today anyway," she lied. She wasn't expecting any such letter, she just didn't want him to feel like she was staying with him for no reason.

Goliath, waking up from his nap, walked into the room and jumped up on Parvati's lap.

"What is he doing inside?" she asked Seamus.

"I didn't want him to get attacked by dementors? He didn't mess anything up!" he insisted.

"It's okay, he can stay inside for a bit, I suppose," she said, scratching behind his ears. "How about some tea?"

"Do you have anything else?"

"Uh..." she started. "Coffee? I might have some butterbeer?" she said.

She walked into the kitchen and looked around. "Wow! I do," she said, pulling out two bottles of butterbeer. "I usually just drink tea or coffee," she admitted.

Popping the cork out of the little bottle, he realized that he hadn't actually had a butterbeer in years, himself.

"You aren't as bad as me, I guess," he told her. "Since I left Hogwarts, I haven't had much time for butterbeer or tea."

"You just bathe in firewhisky don't you?" she asked, sipping her own butterbeer.

He nodded. "Or mead, when they'd cut me off. But since I got here, it's been tea..." he added.

"Glad I broke your habit."

He laughed, nearly spilling his bottle. "I guess you can say that. But then again, if it hadn't been for that firewhisky, I wouldn't have ended up here," he added.

"That was fate."

"No it wasn't," he argued. "Unless fate wanted to get me really drunk."

Parvati saw that arguing this point would be a lost cause, so she stood up. "I think I'm going to get a shower and head off to bed," she told him.

Seamus looked up at her and nodded. She smiled and walked away, Goliath following close behind.

Something about the dementor attack earlier was bothering him. He never remembered feeling that helpless in the face of a dementor, he could normally ward one off with ease. _Was it because there was more than one? _he thought. _Or maybe because I was so upset?_

He didn't want to think about the things that he had heard, hearing them the first time had been bad enough. He stood up from the couch and walked down the hall, intending to see if Parvati was out of the shower in hopes he could get a shower himself.

When he walked past Parvati's bedroom, he heard a strangled sobbing. Gently pushing open the door and looking in, he saw Parvati sitting on her bed with her back to the door. He had never been in Parvati's bedroom, and he felt like he was intruding. "Parvati?" he whispered.

She turned around in alarm, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "Oh..."

"What's wrong?" he asked her, walking in and closing the door quietly behind him.

Continuing to wipe her eyes, even though it was painfully obvious she had been crying, she shook her head. "Just being stupid," she told him, sniffing.

She looked very pretty, even with puffy red eyes and makeup running down her face mingled with tears.

"You don't have to be so damn prideful, you can tell me what's wrong," he told her, annoyed.

"It's nothing Seamus, even if it was I don't think I'd tell you," she said, firing up at once.

"Bloody hell, Parvati. I'm just trying to help."

She tried to keep herself from crying again, and he sat down beside her. "Really, what is it?" he asked, feeling sorry for yelling.

"What if this kills us?" she asked, looking at him sadly. "This war? What if we both die?" He had been caught off guard by this question, he didn't have an answer.

"I'm 20 years old, Seamus," she said. "I shouldn't be worried about dying, I shouldn't be worried about not doing the things I want to do soon enough, I shouldn't!" she said, sounding hysterical.

Without warning, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in. "Shut it, Parvati. Don't worry about that right now. Calm down. Okay? We won't die," he told her. He felt strangely nervous to have his old friend leaning against his side.

She looked up at him. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be," he said, he would never admit that 'as sure as I can be' was him lying through his teeth for her.

Parvati calmed down a little at that, but didn't shift from her comfortable position against Seamus' side.

"I think I should go, I'm kind of tired," he said, trying to get off the bed as gently as possible.

"Oh...please don't. You can stay up with me for just a few more minutes...?" she asked.

"I really think I should..." he started, looking at her and becoming increasingly more uncomfortable, she was wearing a Muggle outfit, a very short pair of cloth shorts and a shirt that matched. "I should go to bed," he finished, exhaling.

She stood to face him, and grabbed his hand. "Oh, please Seamus?" she asked, tearing up again. "I just need someone to talk to, for a little while longer," she said.

The suddenness in which she had grabbed his hand made his heart drop to his stomach.

"Everyone needs to be vulnerable sometimes," she continued.

He laughed a little, his heart dropping farther and farther down and beating faster and faster. He felt like getting sick. "I think my vulnerability might be expressed a little differently, Parvati," he explained, wishing she'd let go of his hand.

She looked offended. "Oh? You can't just open up like me, I expect it's because I'm a girl," she accused. "Boys don't cry or talk about what's bothering them, I forgot."

"That's not what I meant," he defended.

"Then what? Have I not earned your trust, Seamus?" she asked, still looking offended but also looking hurt.

Seamus, as usual, had definitely said the wrong thing. He was very silent for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain this to her. "It's not you, Parvati. It isn't. You might just not like my vulnerability," he concluded.

"Show me and I'll tell you that for myself."

This was one of the most awkward situations he had ever been involved in. She squeezed his hand that was still firmly in her grip and he bit his lip. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," she challenged.

Seamus took a deep breath, his heart had now leapt up into his throat. But the questioning look in Parvati's eyes made him sure he might as well do _something_.

So he did something he had been truthfully waiting days to do. He leaned down and

kissed her. His hand found itself freed from her vice like grip, and he waited for her to yell or smack him or laugh or something. But she didn't. Seamus wondered if it was wrong, but Parvati wrapped an arm around his shoulders and his hand (aching slightly from her grip) found a way into her hair, which was damp from her shower.


	7. Chapter 7: Misunderstandings

Sorry for the wait, everybody. This took a while, exams are approaching and life-stress has been getting on me! But here it is, I hope to end this fic at ten chapters as I'm going to work on a parallel fanfiction involving Neville and Luna that picks up about where this ends. So after this, 3 more chapters.

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 7: Misunderstandings

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Seamus woke up unusually early, he was unaware of where he was for a moment. Once he remembered how he had ended up in Parvati's bed, he got up, got dressed and walked into the kitchen. He started making coffee carefully.

Nearly as soon as he had finished making it, Parvati walked in. He handed her a mug and sat down.

"Good morning," he said calmly.

"Morning," she replied back, taking the chair across from him. They sat in silence for a few moments before finishing their coffee, which gave them no reason to be silent.

"Look-" Seamus started.

"About last night," Parvati said, nearly the same time Seamus had started to say the same words.

"Uh, you first," he said.

"Well, uh, I was going to say...if it was just kind of a fluke, or a moment of weakness or something. It's not like we've got to do it again or anything..." she muttered, staring at the table in between them. She was very much hoping he'd correct her.

He looked shocked. "Uhm...yeah...that was exactly what I was going to say..." he replied after a moment.

She bit her lip. "Really?"

_No, no, tell her no, tell her no-not-fucking-ever, _he thought to himself angrily. "Yah. That's what I was going to tell you..."

There was an unreadable expression on her face, but she was distracted when Goliath began licking her hand impatiently, wanting his breakfast.

"I'm going out...for a drink," Seamus said abruptly, standing and striding out of the kitchen.

"It's ten in the morning!" she shouted after him.

He didn't reply.

Seamus was a little upset, walking down towards the Hog's Head. Actually, he was furious. "A moment of weakness?" he asked himself bitterly, stopping under the creaking sign that hung from the Hog's Head Inn. "A goddamn moment of weakness. What fucking god has it out for me this week?!" he asked, looking skyward. "Huh?"

He decided the Hog's Head was far too close to the source of his frustration, and Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. As it was custom these days, the Leaky Cauldron was practically empty, he walked up to Tom the barman and smiled halfheartedly.

"Some firewhisky?"

The toothless old barman handed him a smoking goblet a moment later and Seamus took it, draining it quickly and easily. He kept getting it refilled until Tom finally told him he wouldn't refill his goblet anymore.

Seamus hobbled out of the Leaky Cauldron a few moments later.

"Seamus?"

He turned, his vision was somewhat hazy, but he recognized the tall figure of his best friend.

"Dean!" he exclaimed. "What's...?" he started, trailing off when he realized he had forgotten what he was going to say.

Dean grabbed his inebriated friend's arm and steered him in the direction of he and Lavender's flat. "What are you doing in London? I thought you were staying with Parvati."

"Parvati..." he muttered, and then he frowned. "It's a story."

When they finally got to his flat, Dean threw Seamus inside, pointing him towards the couch.

"Dean? What's...Seamus?"

"I think there's something wrong with Seamus," Dean told his wife flatly.

"He's completely toasted!"

Dean shushed her. "Let me talk to him alone, try and get in touch with Parvati, okay?" he told her quietly.

Lavender left the room, shutting their bedroom door behind her.

"Seamus?"

"Hm?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing! I fancied a drink," he said, or tried to say.

Dean wasn't buying it. "What happened?"

Seamus frowned again. "I'm an idiot."

"Why?" he asked, trying not to sound in the least bit exasperated or amused.

"I thought she liked me but she didn't it was all some stupid mistake I can't believe myself," he muttered, slurring horribly.

Dean wasn't following, so he opted for a better approach.

_"Aguamenti," _he said, flicking his wand and dumping a small load of water over Seamus' head.

Seamus blinked and seemed slightly more coherent than he had been.

"So, Seamus, explain what happened, in proper English this time, if you'd like."

"I'm just an idiot Dean," he said, staring at the carpet. "I thought she liked me but she was just...it was just a mistake," he said.

"What was a mistake?" Dean pressed. "What did you do?"

"I don't want to talk about it Dean," he said. "I just want to sleep."

"It's barely noon!"

"So?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Quit being a baby!" But Seamus had already slumped over and fallen asleep.

Lavender reemerged from the other room. "I couldn't get Parvati, I'll try again later I suppose," she told him, shrugging. "What's wrong with him?"

"Drank himself stupid over _something," _he responded. "No clue what."

"Well, I'll go try and Floo Parvati, at least to let her know he's here."

Dean nodded, getting up to fix himself something to drink. He joined Lavender in the other room a few minutes later, her head was in the fire, he couldn't hear what was being said, but Lavender pulled her head from the fire, frowning. "She's Apparating over in a minute, she's a little angry."

"Don't let her wake him up, we'll find out what happened before we let her take the puppy home," he told her in a low voice.

They fell silent and heard footsteps coming closer to their door, Lavender went to greet her before she could get the chance to knock. "Sh, he's asleep," she told her friend, leading her into she and Dean's bedroom.

"What's going on?" Dean asked her seriously.

Parvati bit her lip. "You look so mad."

"While, that is my best mate passed out on my couch and from all that I can gather it's because of something you said or did," he pointed out.

Parvati glared, looking near tears. "It's _not_ my fault, Dean. If he could've just told me what he wanted to tell me instead of just leaving the second I told him what I thought was right, then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Okay, just, tell us exactly what happened, then explain what you just said," Lavender told her, placing a hand on her arm. "Dean, don't assume it's Parvati's fault."

Parvati took a deep breath. "Okay, last night, well. I was upset, and we had been arguing...and I was crying and he came in there and we were talking. And we kissed," she paused blushing slightly and Dean smirked.

"You don't need to give details," he told her.

She narrowed her eyes. "Well, this morning he got up before I did, so I felt kind of weird, so I went into the kitchen and he was waiting for me, he said we needed to talk so I kind of assumed that he was going to apologize and say it was just a fluke because we were vulnerable, all of that stuff."

"That's not what I was going to say, Parvati," Seamus said from the doorway.

"How long have you been there?"

"Thirty seconds?"

Parvati didn't look at him. "Then why didn't you correct me?"

"Because I thought you meant what you were saying," he commented.

"So...this is all a stupid misunderstanding?" Lavender asked.

"I guess so," Parvati said, giggling nervously.

Parvati stood up from the bed and turned to Seamus. "We have things to talk about, let's go home." She walked up to him, grabbing his hand and smiling a little. They stepped out of the doorway and Apparated onto High Street.

She unlocked her door and they walked inside.

"I'm sorry," she said, shutting the door.

"Whatever, Parvati," he said. "Couldn't you have just been honest?" he burst out angrily.

"What in the hell, Seamus? I'm sorry I wasn't honest, I'm sorry I was scared you were going to reject me! My mistake!"

"I thought it was obvious," he muttered.

"What?"

"I thought it was kind of obvious I fancied you. Since I live with you and everything," he spat.

"Maybe you were too busy sulking for me to notice!" she shot back.

Seamus didn't reply. He sat down on the couch and stared at his knees. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to accept my apology," she told him firmly.

"Fine. I accept. We panicked and said the wrong thing. I'm sorry for not telling you what I wanted to."

"Fine."

There was an awkward pause.

"So what happens now?" she asked him, sitting beside him and staring at the spot on the floor he was focusing on.

"Whatever is supposed to, I guess."

"I kind of thought this would be easier when we got to this point," she told him.

"I kind of thought I wouldn't be hung over when we got to this point," he added, cracking a smile.

They both laughed.

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Reviews? Mmkay. Sorry if this chapter wasn't satisfactory, I tried.


	8. Chapter 8: Surprise!

A/N: This chapter brings the funny. Well, I think it does. That's what I'm going for at least! Read and review, thanks!

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 8: Surprise, You Forgot Your Birthday!

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Parvati was cleaning tables at Madam Puddifoot's, she was ready to go home. It had been a long week, not a bad week, but a long one. She was ready to go home and take a hot shower and go to bed.

It had been a week since Seamus had made himself a permanent fixture in Parvati's bedroom. She had to charm the bed so it was a bit bigger and more accommodating. At first she protested his decision that the couch was no longer a substantial bed for him, but the passing week had proven pleasant. At her request, Seamus was not perverted when they were trying to sleep, though it was regretful that he saved her perverted comments for in the morning, and when he talked to Dean.

For some reason, Dean's head was popping up in their fire a lot, she supposed that it could have something to do with increasingly urgent reports in the _Daily Prophet _about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Death Eaters. He also gave her weekly reports on Lavender, occasionally Lavender would appear in the fire instead of Dean, and she and Parvati would chat.

Finally, Parvati finished her cleaning, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be, she bade goodnight to Madam Puddifoot and set off for home.

It was a cold night, as winter was quickly approaching, so Parvati was quick to get home. When she pushed the door open, she noticed Seamus sitting on the couch with a bottle of butterbeer in his hand.

"I told you you didn't have to wait up," she told him disapprovingly.

"Eh, I felt like it," he replied.

She smiled at him and grabbed his half-finished bottle of butterbeer.

"So what did you do today?"

"Slept."

Parvati looked at him for a minute. "You should really think about getting a job."

He shrugged. "Should I?"

She frowned. "Yes, you should. I can't keep feeding you. But we'll talk about that later, I'm going to go take a shower."

"Could I join you?"

"No."

Seamus frowned. "You'd think you'd let me once in a while."

"I doubt it would be a case of 'you wash my back, I wash yours'," she retorted coolly.

"True," he said, more to himself. "We'd probably come out dirtier than we went in."

"Seamus Finnigan!"

"Sorry."

Parvati raised an eyebrow. "No you aren't." But she was smiling. She got up and walked down the hall to the bathroom.

Seamus yawned and stretched, standing up too. "I guess it's time for bed."

He was snoring by the time Parvati came back into her- _no, their- _bedroom. _So much for fancying a chat, _she thought bitterly. _I'm sure sitting at home all day is very tiring. _

She climbed into bed and pulled the blankets away from Seamus and curled up.

He woke up. "What's up?"

"What?"

He shrugged.

"I have a feeling something bad is going to happen tomorrow," she told him, laughing. "Isn't that stupid?"

"That's a very justified feeling, seeing as we're at war..." he said.

He was mocking her, of course.

She scowled. "Do not mock me, or I will turn you into a toad. Which would be fitting..."

"Because then you could kiss me and I'd turn into a prince?" he asked, earning him a questioning look from Parvati. He shook his head. "Old Muggle story me dad told me."

She started to retort but he put a finger to her mouth. "You don't have to turn me into a toad to kiss me, Parvati, we've established this."

"You better be happy I'm too tired to hex you," she said, yawning as if to emphasize her point.

"You wouldn't hex me anyway," Seamus argued, rolling over and trying to fall back asleep.

Parvati was asleep before she could reach for her wand.

When Parvati woke up, she thought her 'bad feeling' from the night before was just silly and she didn't think a thing of it.

"You did _what?" _

"Lavender did, not me, mate!" Dean's head was in the fire again.

"Seamus, what's wrong?" she asked.

He looked distracted. "Nothing, nothing." He turned back to Dean. "Are you sure?"

Dean's head nodded. "But I gotta go, mate. Talk to you later. Happy Birthday."

_Pop._

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday today?"

"Forgot."

"Your own birthday?" Parvati laughed. "But what's all the fuss about?"

He didn't answer immediately. "It's...uh...a long story?"

Someone knocked on the door.

"Oh no. Bloody hell..." he said, jumping up from sitting beside the fire. "No! Let me get that..."

"What is going on?"

Seamus dashed for the door, wrenching it open as if it would explode if he didn't. "Uh...hi."

"Seamus! I've missed you!" a female voice cried. Parvati came around the corner and saw a woman she'd never seen before kissing Seamus. He seemed to be struggling.

"Lemme go!" he cried, pulling away.

"Happy birthday sweetie!" she added, producing a wrapped present out of thin air with her wand.

Parvati thought that whoever this woman was, she was strange.

"Who is that?" she asked, looking at Parvati with distaste.

Seamus looked like the situation would likely kill him. "Parvati, this is my _former-" _his emphasis on this word was particularly strong- "girlfriend, Karen. Karen this is my roommate-"

"-and girlfriend," Parvati interjected.

"Yeah...that too...well, this is Parvati."

Karen stared Parvati down, as if daring her to blink. But Seamus knew that staring down Parvati was about as useful as staring down a hippogriff, if you made one wrong move you'd probably lose an arm, so he sought to intervene.

"Karen, what do you want?" he asked, exasperated.

Parvati thought that Karen was rather mannish in appearance. Her hands were larger than any woman she knew and currently resting on her narrow hips, her long brown hair was tied back from a rather square face and she was unusually tall for a woman of her age.

"I want you to come back!" she told him insistantly.

Seamus went pale, his hand running through his sandy hair. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" she asked, attempting to pout.

"Well, I live with Parvati and...well...I enjoy living with Parvati...and..." he was stuttering.

"But you love me!" she insisted.

Seamus went paler.

Parvati was staring at him now too. Seamus felt like crying out of frustration.

_Maybe, if I make myself cry they'll stop!_ he told himself. _Watch yourself, Finnigan, one wrong move..._

"Seamus?"

"What?"

"Come back home," Karen said, cutting over Parvati.

"Why should I?" he said in a faraway voice. "You threw me out! You told me you had never loved me in the first place! You left me for a bloody Muggle! I'm not going back there with you! You'll just do it again!" He was shouting now. "Please, just leave," he told her, thrusting the box back into her hand. "Stop screwing with my head!"

Karen looked offended, Parvati looked pleased.

"Now who does he love?" Parvati taunted.

For once, Parvati said the wrong thing.

"I never said _that," _Seamus told her firmly, turning her around and shutting the door in Karen's sneering face.

He sat down on the couch and ran a hand down his face. Parvati sat beside him. "All right?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"You never told me about her," she said, trying not to sound like she was accusing him of something.

"There's a reason for that."

"What would that be?"

Seamus looked at her like she was blind or stupid. "Did you see her? She's kind of hard to deal with."

"How'd you meet her?"

"No idea. Don't remember."

Parvati stopped her questioning. He was obviously not in the best of moods. She kissed him swiftly on the lips and got up. "I'll make you a cup of tea."

"Thanks."

She smiled back at him.

"You're prettier than her!" he called when she disappeared into the kitchen. She peered back out, grinning.

"I knew that much. Oh, and finish your tea quickly. Then I can give you a birthday present," she told him, winking before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Seamus grinned.

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Review?


	9. Chapter 9: Padma is Not Impressed

Ohh my god, I'm sorry for taking so long! I've been working ever since school let out then I got a new computer and I just kind of lost track of things! I'm going to definitely try to have the next chapter out before Deathly Hallows is released! I promise!

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 9: And as Usual, Padma is Not Impressed

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It had been an entire month. Parvati thought that was pretty crazy. It felt like it had barely been two days.

"So when's your sister coming over?" Seamus asked, sneaking up behind Parvati as she cooked something or another and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"She said around noon, so behave yourself, okay?"

"It's only ten in the morning, stop cooking and pay attention to me," he whined.

Parvati rolled her eyes and pulled out of his grip, turning to face him. "I am paying attention to you, quit being such a baby."

"I'm not being a baby," he said. "I just don't see why Padma coming over is such a big bloody deal."

"It's a 'big bloody deal' because I love my sister," she said, poking him in the chest.

"Well your sister isn't going to like me, can I just go hide in the Hog's Head until she's gone?" he asked cheerfully.

"No," she said.

"Why not?"

Parvati sighed, pushing Seamus around the table and out of the kitchen. He flopped down on the couch and picked up the _Daily Prophet. _"Because, Seamus, I have to tolerate her obnoxious boyfriends and she will tolerate mine."

"Why can't we just skip the sister and go straight to your parents then?" he asked moodily.

"Don't be silly, you know my parents would hate you."

"That's reassuring," he laughed.

"They've hated every boyfriend I've ever had," she continued.

He shook his head and returned to pretending to read the paper. Parvati sat down beside him on the couch and put a hand on his knee. "Please be nice to Padma, please?"

"I'll be nice to your sister, you know I will," he said. "Why would I be mean to her?" he asked, putting the _Prophet _down.

Parvati didn't answer immediately. "Oh, I don't know. You know how Padma can be sometimes," she said.

He looked at the clock.

"So, your sister said noon right?"

Parvati nodded.

"Then we have time to…"

"Seamus!" she cut over him, exasperated.

Seamus laughed. "Don't be such a pervert, Parvati. That's not what I was going to say," he said.

"Then what were you going to say?" she asked accusingly.

"Okay, that is what I was gonna say."

Parvati smiled grudgingly. "Well I have to say no," she said. "I have something cooking and if it burns I'll blame you."

He wasn't particularly satisfied with this answer, so he scooted over closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She smiled at him until she realized what he was doing.

Seamus smirked, tickling Parvati mercilessly. She laughed and tried desperately to push him away.

"Hope I wasn't interrupted anything," a dry voice said from the doorway.

Parvati jumped off the couch. "Padma! You're…early," she said awkwardly.

Padma crossed her arms over her chest, a small smirk lingering on her features. "Just a bit." She crossed the room and sat down in an empty chair. "So what was going on exactly?"

"We were just waiting for lunch to finish cooking," Parvati said, sitting back down.

Seamus reverted back to his favorite pastime when it came to listening to women talk about him.

Not listening at all.

Padma and Parvati talked, went into the kitchen to check on Parvati's lunch, and came back to sit down. Seamus was dully aware of Parvati grabbing his hand at one point.

"So, how long have you been here exactly?" Padma shot at him.

After a seconds pause, Parvati elbowed Seamus in the ribs hard.

He shook his head quickly and looked up. "Oh, me? Um, a month I s'pose?" he said, looking at Parvati.

Padma rolled her eyes, but didn't comment.

They continued to talk about things that Seamus didn't care about, including but not limited to Lavender's baby, Padma's new dress robes, the fact that their parents wanted Padma to get married really soon.

Suddenly there was a loud tap at the window, a huge brown owl was carrying a cylindrical package and tapping at the window impatiently.

"That's weird, we already got the paper today…" Parvati said. "Seamus go see what the bird it delivering."

Seamus got up and opened the window, taking the package from the owl, who flew off immediately. He unfurled the paper, which was indeed a second copy of the _Daily Prophet. _

"Bloody hell!" he yelped loudly, reading the huge black headline. His face broke into an enormous grin and he sat the paper down at the table between the twins, who both read the headline, their eyes huge.

_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named finally defeated. _

"Read the article," Padma urged Parvati.

Parvati grabbed the _Prophet, _her eyes still wide in disbelief. "_Reports came in by the hundreds mere hours ago, reports that the Dark Wizard that had fashioned himself Lord…well, let's not jinx ourselves, was defeated late last night or early this morning after he and his few remaining Death Eaters made one last stand against a group of Aurors and various people that are rumored to be connected to a secret organization known as the Order of the Phoenix. (Order of the Phoenix con't on p.4) In the middle of these rumors, of course, is none other than the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, and his two companions, Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Ronald Weasley. The most consistent reports we are getting is that while the Death Eaters battled various wizards, Harry Potter was able to deliver a curse that proved fatal to the wizard that was once thought to be nearly unkillable. The identity of this curse is unknown, but Mr. Remus Lupin (who was at this battle himself) reports confidently that it was not the famed Killing Curse that failed to kill Harry Potter when he was one year old. (report con't p. 3)_."

She flipped the paper over and skimmed down.

_"Harry Potter himself, nor his close companions, were available for question. Ginny Weasley told our reporter that they were exhausted and deserved some peace, concluding this statement with "sod off you nosy bat". There are still a few Death Eaters at large, and we warn that you must not approach these people at all, they are dangerous and possibly deranged…" _

Padma let out a long sigh. "Wow."

"So it's over isn't it?" Seamus said, staring at the newspaper. "That's a bit unexpected, really," he added.

"Do you think they'll catch the last few Death Eaters?" Parvati asked.

"It's likely," Padma answered.

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Review, hope you enjoyed!

PS: I'm starting a couple new projects, as soon as I get the last chapter of this out. One is a chaptered fic entitled "Double Blind", it's post-war and it features Neville/Luna as the central pairing, along with Ginny/Harry and Ron/Hermione. I'm also working on a parody-type fic about that silly Hufflepuff, Zacharias Smith. I also have a Zacharias Smith claim at 7spells, so expect those seven ficlets out within the next few days. So be on the lookout!

Sorry about the shameless self promotion there, guys. Hope you enjoyed. Have fun with Deathly Hallows!


	10. Chapter 10: Home is Where You're At

Sorry I didn't get this out as soon as I had planned. I got so caught up in reading Deathly Hallows yesterday!

Oh yes, I can't take credit for the chapter title for this chapter because it is actually a (although somewhat modified) line from the manga _Inuyasha._

I must beg you **DO NOT **include **ANY **kind of spoiler for Deathly Hallows in your review, I have already read it but other people might not had gotten the chance, and I would prefer that no spoilers cropped up on my review page. Thank you!_  
_

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Firewhisky Baths

Chapter 10: Home is Where You're At

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Parvati stirred a little, a pale ray of light filtering in through the window over her bed. She sat up and blinked, trying to figure out what had woke her up. She looked up and saw a small owl twittering madly outside of her window. She shifted and opened the window, the small owl flying in and landing itself on Seamus' sleeping head, holding out his leg proudly.

Seamus' eyes snapped open. "Parvati...there's an owl on my head."

"It's just delivering a letter, hold still," she said, more to the little owl than to Seamus. She finally got the scroll of parchment off of his foot and he flew out the window.

She unfurled the scroll; she recognized Ginny Weasley's handwriting immediately.

"Party at the Burrow?" she read aloud questioningly.

Seamus didn't respond, he had fallen back asleep as soon as the owl had stopped using his head for a perch. She frowned and looked back over the letter.

_Dear Parvati (and Seamus),  
There's a party at my house (The Burrow, if you want to Floo in) from dusk-till-dawn to celebrate the end of the war. We'd love to have you. Bring drinks if you could, please.  
Harry, Ron and Hermione will not be attending, sadly. I have seen them since they got back and they are all okay, but they are in St. Mungo's, the Ministry insisted.  
See you then,  
Ginny, Fred & George Weasley_

"Seamus," Parvati said, poking him in the shoulder. "We're going to a party tonight," she continued.

He grunted swinging an arm down over her and pulling her back down onto the bed. "Go back to sleep…" he grumbled.

She scooted closer to him and poked him in the shoulder again. "It's nearly noon, we have to get out of bed eventually."

"Not really…"

Parvati admitted defeat and settled back down to go back to sleep, a loud snore beside her told her that Seamus had beaten her to it.

The sun was glaring through the window over their bed when Parvati woke back up. She sat up and threw the covers off of herself and Seamus, who stirred a little.

"What?"

"Wake up! No excuses!"

Seamus sat up, shaking his head to try to unstick his hair from his eyes.

"You could use a haircut," Parvati said, standing up and stretching.

He yawned in response and stood up slowly.

"We got invited to a party at Ginny's house," she told him.

"Oh? Are we gonna go?" he asked.

She nodded. "It starts at dusk," she added. "We have to bring something."

"Like what?"

She shrugged. "Food or drinks or something," she said.

Seamus gave a wicked smile. "Fred and George would appreciate an offering," he muttered cryptically.

"I know what you're thinking," she said pointedly. "And you've been doing so well, why mess it up?" she asked.

"Because You-Know-Who is dead, it's time for a party!" he exclaimed happily, bouncing on his heels in a way reminiscent of Ludo Bagman.

Twenty minutes later Parvati was trudging down the street with Seamus, pulling her scarf tightly around her face. "It's too cold to be out," she muttered angrily.

They walked into the Three Broomsticks, which was crowded with people for the first time in years, yelling and whooping and cheering loudly, banging there mugs on the table and laughing raucously, it was the lightest the atmosphere in Hogsmeade had been in a very long time.

A large number of men turned and stared at Parvati in a way that made her very uncomfortable, and caused her to clutch her hidden wand. Seamus strolled up to the bar (Parvati very close behind) and ordered a large flagon of firewhisky.

"A party, eh?" Madam Rosmerta asked. "Just a second, I've got to get it from the back."

A few moments later, Madam Rosmerta came back out carrying a large barrel. "Enjoy it, today is a good day for it," she added, casting a wary eye towards the window.

"Hey pretty lass, why don't you ditch the Irishman and get with a real man?" a very drunk man near the door asked as they walked out. Parvati drew her wand but Seamus shook his head.

"They're just happy," he muttered from behind the huge smoking barrel.

Parvati grabbed the powder, tossing it into the fireplace, the flames turned bright emerald green and she ducked inside of it. "The Burrow!" she shouted.

She hunched down and found herself in the scrubbed-spotless, though crowded, kitchen of the Weasley clan. Seamus was already talking to the twins, laughing uproariously. Ginny was sitting beside Luna, trying hard not to laugh too loudly.

"Mum is setting up tables with the other brothers outside," Ginny said to Parvati. "We definitely aren't staying in here."

Parvati smiled and looked around. The house was cramped but cozy looking, and nothing like her childhood home, which had been large and luxurious. But she liked this place, it felt like home.

She took an empty seat beside Seamus, across from Ginny.

The fire perked up, emerald green again, and Neville Longbottom clambered out of the fireplace, clutching a cane. "Well, hello everybody," he said, looking around.

"Who else is coming?"

"I'm thinking that Dean and Lavender should be here any second, I don't know how they're getting here though," Ginny piped up.

There was a loud knock at the front door and Luna looked up. "I'll get the door Ginny," she said serenely, getting up from her chair and walking out of the kitchen. "Neville, don't stand too long, you can have my seat," her voice drifted.

Neville obliged, sitting down in the unoccupied seat.

"Okay, everything is set up outside," Mrs. Weasley said, walking into the kitchen, her hair askew and her hat looking in danger of falling off.

They all followed her lead and walked outside. There were numerous large tables covered in white linen tablecloths and many full of magnificent looking dishes of food. The smallest table was sporting clean plates and assorted cutlery and goblets.

"Dean!" Seamus cried when he saw Dean and a (rather rotund) Lavender follow Luna out into the back garden. He ran over and hugged his best friend tightly.

"Parvati, I hate to be a killjoy, but sometimes I think Seamus is just a little fruity," Ginny whispered as she grabbed a plate and walked over to another table, putting as much food as she could fit on the place and looking around for a chair.

Parvati laughed and started looking through the various foods and snacks, picking up what she thought looked the best.

Once everybody had settled down with their food and drink, Mr. Weasley stood up. "It's a happy day, don't you think? Our boy has defeated the Darkest wizard of our time!" he said, clapping a little. "But I propose a toast, to Harry, Hermione, Ronald and those lost in the effort..."

They all raised their goblets for a moment, some murmuring names, others just silent. They all drank deeply. Someone leaned over the table and poked Parvati on the arm, she turned.

"Padma, when did you get here?"

"Just a moment ago," she said. "Where's your little boy-thing?"

"He's talking to the twins," she said, pointing to where Seamus, Dean and the Weasley twins were sitting, drinking generous helpings of firewhisky and laughing.

Ginny and Luna sat down at the table, Lavender followed shortly.

"My feet hurt," Lavender grumbled.

"Blame Dean," Parvati said, giggling slightly.

"So when are you getting knocked up, Parvati?" Padma asked, smirking.

Parvati's face grew hot. "Never, I'm hoping."

Lavender smiled. "It's not as bad as you'd think, I can't say I won't be happy when little what's-his-face is born and I go back to not being a miniature Professor Slughorn, but it's just little annoying aches and pains."

Parvati shook her head, amused. "Kids just aren't my thing."

"Besides, now that Voldemort is gone, you have all the time in the world," Ginny said.

They all looked thoughtful for a moment, before Seamus, Dean, Fred and George joined them.

"Don't look so glum, my friends!" Fred said, smiling. "Today is a happy day!"

They laughed a little.

"I mean the war is over, Lav-Lav is having a baby that does not, bless him, belong to Won-Won, Percy has pulled his head out of his arse and has done something he's never done before," George pointed out.

"Which is?" Luna asked, craning her neck to see Percy.

"He's shown up to a party uninvited," Fred laughed. "He's gate-crashing! It's a first! I'm almost proud."

They all laughed.

By dawn, the firewhisky had run out, the candles had burnt down and topics for discussion were few and far between, people began to Apparate back to their homes.

Parvati grabbed Seamus' hand. "Let's go home," she said, smiling gently but looking tired. He nodded wearily and they Apparated back to Hogsmeade, when they got inside, they hurried back to their room.

"Let's sleep all day," Seamus whispered in her ear.

"Mm…'kay," Parvati muttered, lying down and trying to push Goliath off of her pillow. The dog got off and jumped down, resuming his nap on the floor beside the bed.

They curled up, not even bothering to get under the covers.

"Night."

"…it's five in the morning Seamus…."

A snore told her that her retort was lost.

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I hope you enjoyed it! And if you're interested in any other fics I might be churning out, be on the lookout for a fanfic entitled _Double Blind, _which is a Neville/Luna fic, and another full-length called_ The Heir of Hufflepuff, _which is Zacharias Smith-centric. Also be on the lookout for a (tentative) 50-set of one-shots centering around this very pairing, which I'm thinking of taking up for 100quills on LJ, but I haven't actually thought too hard about it. Hopefully you enjoyed!

Again, I must ask that when you review please **DO NOT **include Deathly Hallows spoilers in the review, because, while I have finished the book, others may not have had the chance to read it yet and I wouldn't want any spoilers slipping into my review page, in case someone read the reviews and had the book spoiled for them. Thank you!


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